Script
0:00
During this month of March, Pope Leo invites us to pray for disarmament and peace.
Jesus offers us a peace that is deeper than the world can give… and we yearn for the day when his peace will rule in the heart of every human being…
1:00
Listen to these words from Saint Paul’s letter to the Colossians, which tell us what happens when we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts… He describes our relationships as a kind of clothing that we are all invited to wear… and how love is the thread that holds this elegant garment together…
1:33
‘As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.’ (Colossians 3:12-15)
2:53
As you consider what it is like for human beings to live in harmony with one another, notice the contrast with situations of conflict in your own life, or in the lives of the people around you… How might this peaceful aspiration to harmony transform your life…?
3:46
The crash of explosives, the cry of the wounded, the wailing of those who have lost loved ones… It seems as though peace is a distant dream in our world… Can you notice how the seeds of peace, even where all hope seems be almost lost, are already being planted…?
4:48
The peace of Christ stills every violent movement of our hearts: our unkind words of prejudices, our silence before injustice, our outbursts of anger… as you let Paul's words resound within you, allow the peace of Christ to come to rest ever more deeply upon your heart…
5:56
Anger makes us think there is only one way to respond: the clenched fist, the unkind word, the submissive silence… If we pause in the moment of anger then we can recognise other ways to respond: through dialogue, gesture, and action… Take some time to speak to Jesus about the way in which he would like you to respond to the situations of conflict in your own life…
7:28
As you begin to let Jesus disarm the weaponry of your heart, you might discover that you are becoming more open to Jesus too… take some time to enter into a deeper communion with him, through thoughts, words, images, gestures, or by simply resting peacefully in his presence… and pray for peace you need in your own life, and for peace in our broken world…
9:06
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.